


Next Time

by DanteSunbreaker



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crying, F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mild Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:09:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28802595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanteSunbreaker/pseuds/DanteSunbreaker
Summary: Paz promises that next time he will finally stay with you through the night, but the fight between the Guild and Mandalorians happens first. Now you must learn how to move on without your big blue Mandalorian.*This has no uses of pronouns and isn't gender specified, but I always write with a transmale reader in mind*
Relationships: Paz Vizsla/Female Reader, Paz Vizsla/Gender Neutral Reader, Paz Vizsla/Male Reader, Paz Vizsla/Reader, Paz Vizsla/Trans Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	Next Time

**Author's Note:**

> I've fallen in love with the thick Mandalorian... As always, I really appreciate any feedback you can give. I might write a bit of smut to add on to the end of this later when I have time.

“Next time,” comes Paz’s modulated voice as he stands up from his side of the bed. Paz begins gathering his clothes, sliding them back on before snapping the rest of his beskar back in place without sparing a glance in your direction.

Staying in the bed, blankets pooled haphazardly around your waist, you watch him and wish that for once the Mandalorian would give in and crawl back into the bed with you. It’s always next time when it comes to Paz. Never is there time for the post orgasm cuddles, no basking in the afterglow, or just taking the time to enjoy each other’s presence. You can’t blame him, knowing that the life of a Mandalorian is busy, but you wish that that life could include you more.

“Yeah, next time,” you’re frowning, but you try to keep your tone positive. Your eyes stay glued to Paz as he puts on the last of his beskar, wanting to memorize every detail so at least you can imagine him beside you after he is gone.

“Hey, don’t be like that,” once again fully covered in his beskar, Paz finally turns back to you to see the look of sadness cross your face. In only two strides he is back at the bed brushing the back of his fingers along your jaw before cupping your cheek. “I have to go,” he leans in to press his forehead against yours and holds you there for a few seconds. “I’ll contact you via comlink when it is safe to see you again.”

“Be safe, Paz.” 

There is a modulated chuckle as the hand at your cheek slowly pulls away. And then the giant of a Mandalorian disappears from your bedroom once again, leaving you to lounge in the slowly cooling sheets. You’re left waiting for however long it takes for next time to happen.

But then Nevarro happens. You are off-world when news begins to filter in from multiple sources about some big shoot-out that left part of the town in ruin. Something about a bounty hunter breaking the code by going back on his word, and thus the Guild going after him. But at the mention of dozens of Mandalorians taking to the streets to help aid the bounty hunter’s escape has a cold chill clutching at your heart. You were heading for Tatooine for a job, but suddenly that is unimportant as you're punching in the coordinates for Nevarro. The moment you land you fumble with the comlink Paz had given you with in desperation to get the device turned on.

“I just landed on Nevarro. Where are you?” silence follows your question. Tears well in your eyes as your hands tremble around the comlink. “Paz, your location please? Please?” desperation is clear as day in your wavering voice at this point, tears flowing heavily down your cheeks. “Please... just tell me you’re okay. Tell me anything... just please?”

You know that you won’t be getting a response, that you will never hear that deep rumbling voice crackling over the comlink ever again. Yet, still you cry into the device you clutch to your chest as if it were a lifeline, screaming Paz’s name and pleading for him to come back to you until your voice goes hoarse. When your tears have dried up and you are no longer able to shed another, you manage to drag yourself out of your ship. 

For the next few hours you scour Nevarro, examining the damage left behind by the battle. As you turn every corner you hope that you will see him. You imagine that Paz is waiting to surprise you, to tell you it was all just some cruel joke as he pulls you flush against his chest. But you don’t find any sign of your Mandalorian. You would like to at least find a body, something to give you closure. But there is nothing. You have nothing left on Nevarro. Though you long to cry, your eyes remain painfully dry as you realize you truly never will get that next time.

Having nothing left for you on Nevarro, you decide to leave. There are too many painful memories left behind there that you can’t bear to face. So you pack up everything to your name and set out to wander space until you can forget about a certain blue Mandalorian. 

For the better part of a year you travel the galaxy, never settling down long enough to call any one place home. You stay somewhere maybe a few months, just long enough to find some odd jobs to pass the time and line your pockets before you set off once again. Staying too long means you will get comfortable, and getting comfortable means you will think about him again. Even with the amount of time that has passed since your last day on Nevarro, the pain of your loss still hits just as hard.

That is how you now find yourself navigating through the busy streets of one of the many towns of Tatooine. For the last month you had been helping a local farmer prepare his harvest for market, and today you were finally paid out for your work and free to move on to the next job. It’s already late into the night when you walk past a bustling cantina on the way back to your ship. Normally, you would just keep walking, too eager to finally set out again. But something is different tonight, and you decide why not stop in for some hot food and a drink for once. You’ve earned a moment to relax after everything.

A waitress slides a bowl of Bantha steak soup and a glass of blue milk across your table as you hand over the necessary credits. It has been a long time since you ate anything other than rations, so the first spoonful you have makes you nearly moan in delight. You focus on your meal, ignoring your surroundings as you savor the soothing warmth brought from the soup. That is until you catch a glimpse of blue out of the corner of your eye. Lifting your gaze from the table you make a quick scan of the room until you spot something that makes you drop the spoon from your hand.

It must be your eyes playing tricks on you. There is no way... 

Standing against the bar counter is none other than the blue Mandalorian you had spent the last year trying to forget. Painfully your heart begins to thud so hard that you are certain the other patrons can hear the sound of it hammering against your ribcage. A dryness takes over your mouth as you step away from the table and take a shaky step forward. Step by slow step you approach the counter until you stand only two arm widths away from the Mandalorian. At that moment you can see him visibly stiffen as he finishes conversing with the bartender. Tears are in your eyes before you can even process what you are seeing. You open your mouth to speak, but you are immediately cut off before you can make a sound.

“Not here.” It is the same rumbling voice that you remember, that you have only been able to dream of for the last year. Paz doesn’t turn to face you as he pushes off the bar and makes his way out of the cantina. 

In numb silence you follow after him, struggling to keep up with his brisk pace. You don’t walk far before you arrive at what you can only assume is his ship, seeing the way Paz trudges up the ramp once it touches the ground. As soon as you are inside, the ramp promptly rises and shuts behind you. With a deep sigh, Paz drops himself onto a bench along one wall as he rests his elbows on his knees while you continue to stand across from him with tears still burning your eyes.

“You’re alive,” your voice is little more than a whisper, but you know Paz hears it by the way his head sinks lower. 

The desire to reach out and touch him, to gather more tactical evidence that this is in fact not a dream, has your hands trembling. But you keep them firmly at your sides. For if Paz has been alive all this time... Then why did he never come back for you?

“You’re alive.. You’ve been alive this whole time.. and you didn’t come back for me,” at this that point your voice finally breaks, the soft tears turning into full gut wrenching sobs as you wrap your arms around yourself. Paz lets out a choked sound that you can’t decipher, but he refuses to look in your direction. “Do I really mean so little to you?”

“Cyar'ika... no,” Paz’s head snaps up as he hears your words, finally looking up at you, his voice sounding almost equally pained. He reaches out for you, hand hanging in the empty air for a moment before he drops it back at his side. “I heard you,” he is the one to whisper softly this time. “That day on Nevarro.. I heard you crying for me on the comlink.”

“Then why didn’t you answer?”

Paz reaches out for you once again, silently begging for you to close the gap between you. But you only take one step forward, not quite close enough for his hands to wrap around you. 

“I wanted to.. please believe, I really wanted to,” Paz stands back up to his full height, stepping forward to lessen the distance between you and himself. But he doesn’t touch you. “But it wasn’t safe. For me or for you. When the fight ended the Imperials came after the Mandalorians... They hunted down and executed my brothers and sisters. Please understand, I had no way of knowing who was listening. I couldn’t tell you then where I was.”

This is the most broken you think you have ever heard your usually strong, unbreakable Mandalorian. It makes your heart want to shatter more than it already has. But there still are so many questions left unanswered.

“But.. after? You could have found me after,” your sobs have quieted, but your eyes are still rimmed with red and watery. 

One of Paz’s hands moves to hover just a hair’s width away from cupping your cheek, wanting to touch you but waiting for you to give the okay. 

“At first, I was going to follow you,” there is a pause, as if he doesn’t want to continue. “But listening to you cry... knowing how you would respond to my death... I knew I did not want to put you through that again. With me, there is always the risk that I won’t come back one day. My lifestyle isn’t exactly safe and comfortable,” as he continues, you finally let yourself lean into his touch. “I thought I could protect you by staying away.”

Your eyes close as you softly nuzzle into his palm. Though his words hurt, you can understand the process of Paz’s thoughts. But that doesn’t mean you agree with him. You should have been given the opportunity to make your own choice.

“I did not take into account how much it would hurt me though,” Paz admits after a long moment of silence, causing your eyes to snap open and gaze into his visor. With a sigh he rests his forehead against your own. “I spent so long trying to stay away, but yet here I am. Even now I know I should leave... but I am a selfish man.”

A small smile tugs at your lips. “You are a foolish man if you think I would let you leave again,” you chide playfully, happy to hear his soft chuckle as you loop your arms around his waist.

Paz wraps his arms tight around you and nearly crushes you against his chest, a hold that tells you he is almost afraid to let you go. Eventually his helmet shifts so that you're resting your head in the crook of his neck.

“Would you like me to finally follow up on that promise of next time?” Paz whispers next to your ear.


End file.
